Captain America: Civil War Trailer Breakdown

We didn’t even realize we were due for a Captain America: Civil War trailer. These days it seems like we get teasers that a trailer is coming out. Anyway, it debuted on the Jimmy Kimmel Show last night and stunned the Robot’s Pajamas crew. Yes, it has a lot of Marvel characters in it. But the trailer focuses squarely on Steve Rogers and his goal to protect his friend, Bucky, who he rescued from being the mind controlled assassin Winter Soldier in the last film. Guess there are repercussions to being an assassin, though.

Also, the collateral damage the Avengers are racking up seems to have brought the government attention down on them and apparently Cap doesn’t necessarily agree with that for some reason. We’ve got the trailer screencapped so we can try to make sense of it all. Join us (Vincent and Chris) as we break it down.

Chris: Those of us who went to see Ant-Man and stayed through the credits saw a version of this scene. Falcon and Captain America have Winter Soldier caught in some sort of vice. In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Falcon said he was tracking him down. Guess he did it.

Vincent: I didn’t see Ant Man yet. Thanks for the movie ruining spoiler, Chris! Seriously though, I didn’t realize what that was when I first saw the trailer. Anyway, they should show this in shop class as a safety lesson.

Vincent: Steve asks Bucky if he remembers him and Bucky tells him his mother’s name and that he used to wear newspapers in his shoes. I bet he remembers Cap’s Mom’s name.

Chris: I think Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes looks and sounds pretty sane here. He seems to have overcome his Hydra brainwashing. Of course, he still did a lot of bad stuff when he was under their control so I guess I get why he’d still be on the run.

Chris: Any idea what this building is or where? I’m totally guessing from other shots but I’m wondering if it’s some sort of political meeting going on in Germany? I could be wayyy off on that. I don’t recognize the building at all.

Vincent: Is it the new SHIELD HQ? Is SHIELD rebuilt yet? I don’t watch that show and and somehow I still don’t think that would fully answer my questions.

Vincent: Mondays, am I right?

Chris: I can’t tell if this is the same building from the last shot or not. But I’m guessing this could be either collateral damage from a superhero fight or a terrorist framing superheroes. Something like that.

Vincent: Either way, with all the real life terrorism stuff going on these days, this kind of things gets a little harder for me to watch.

Chris: A lot of civilians are rushing out of a building. So probably the one that just blew up. Falcon is just kinda standing there, looking suave. I wonder if he’ll get a pet bird in this one?

Vincent: I can only pray to Crom that he gets a pet bird like in the comics. Or a robot bird, because that would be more realistic. Yeah.

Vincent: Steve says: “Well, the people who think you did are on they’re way right now. And they’re not planning on taking you alive.”

Chris: The police uniforms say “Polizei”. That’s German police and it’s why I suspect a bunch of stuff happens in Germany.

Vincent: I’m guessing there are some ties to WWII going on if they’re in Germany. Or Winter Soldier was just looking to buy some Lederhosen and chow down on some excellent chocolates.

Chris: Bucky/Winter Soldier on the run. I don’t know if it’s from the police we just saw or maybe Cap and Falcon before that first shot we saw but he leaps across buildings here. The area looks a bit like Alexandria or D.C. with no tall buildings. But maybe it’s Germany. It’s probably Germany.

Vincent: You really seem to be obsessed with Germany, Chris. One thing I thought while watching this is there’s no reason for him to be in his “costume” any more, but in the comics he’d totally be in the same outfit for no other reason than that’s his costume (at least it was always that way when I was a kid). Kind of a nice touch of reality.

Vincent: Cap is dispensing some American justice one drop kick at a time.

Chris: I never get tired of Cap dropkicking people. The palm trees make me wonder if this is somewhere like Florida or maybe somewhere in the Middle East? Some nice cities there have these. I can only guess it’s a globe trotting adventure like a James Bond movie.

Vincent: One reason why I loved Winter Soldier so much (except for the ultimate bad guy plan) was it taking cues from spy thrillers. I’m really hoping Civil War has some of that same tone.

Chris: I miss the red trim that Cap had in his Avengers: Age of Ultron suit. But at least it ain’t that awful thing he wore in Avengers 1.

Vincent: Captain America is the one hero in this shared Marvel Universe who I would rather wear no mask or helmet. Somehow it always looks a little dumb on screen.

Vincent: They really made the new Avengers HQ look dull and uninspired. It looks like a bank headquarters.

Chris: The new Avengers building that’s in upstate New York, I’m assuming. Presumably, Tony Stark is still footing their bill.

Chris: Cool, General Thunderbolt Ross from Incredible Hulk! Wish he was in his army fatigues but at least he still has his big mustache. A great use of an established supporting character and a rare acknowledgement of Incredible Hulk as part of the MCU.

Vincent: Ross says: “Captain, while a great many people see you as a hero, there are some who prefer the word ‘vigilante.’” Yep, that’s pretty much exactly what he is. Very astute.

Again, in the old comics of course he’d be in his fatigues, he’d never get out of them! It works that he’s in his suit, but I automatically think of Robert Redford’s character in Winter Soldier. I’m sure it won’t be a rehash, but that’s just where my brain goes.

Chris: Ross continues: “You’ve operated with unlimited power and no supervision.” Cap is so not on board with what Ross is saying.

Vincent: Yeah, he’s pretty much giving him the glare of death. Good thing for Ross Cap doesn’t have laser eyes.

Chris: This is very interesting to me. The Sokovia Accords, and it says it’s about “Enhanced Individuals.” I’m guessing it’s some sort of proposal by world governments to register superheroes and hold them accountable. Not necessarily a bad idea, per se. It all depends on how it’s implemented and who’s in charge. Sokovia was the country devastated by Ultron and I really appreciate that that has lasting repercussions. But who is presenting it and who is receiving it? Looks like an older man pushing it to a woman. But it ain’t Black Widow. She doesn’t wear that much jewelry or black nail polish. It reminds me that we don’t see some characters in this trailer that we know are in it: Baron Zemo, whoever Martin Freeman is playing, etc.

Vincent: The fun part is that everyone going to a screening of the film and will have to read the document in it’s entirety before the movie can begin. It’s bringing a whole new level of interactivity to film!

Ross’ voiceover finishes: “That’s something the world can no longer tolerate.” What a big fuck you to the fact that the Avengers have saved everyone’s asses twice.

Vincent: Black Widow calls Cap and says: “I know how much Bucky means to you. Stay out of this one, please. You’ll only make this worse.”

Chris: Is Black Widow warning Captain America because she’s on his side or is she trying to get him to turn himself in because she’s pro-registration? Too soon to know for sure, but I don’t think she’s on his side, at least not publicly. I expect several characters to shift their loyalties, to be honest.

Chris: Cap answers: “Are you saying you’ll arrest me?” I guess Steve Rogers is about the only big superhero who can wear sunglasses and a hat as an effective disguise. Of course, he’s built like Hulk Hogan x 2, so maybe he’d still be noticeable.

Vincent: His disguise is basically that cop guy on Jessica Jones.

Vincent: There’s a voiceover by Ross here that says: “There will be consequences.” Same thing my Dad used to say to me when I threw my shield around the house.

Chris: That seems to be a German car. And Cap appears to be surrendering himself. The trailer definitely presents him as being on the run, which worked really really well in Winter Soldier.

Chris: Wow, Iron Man pops up to take in Cap. It’s pretty amazing/awesome that they can use Iron Man as a supporting character in the movie. I mean, they’re probably buying Robert Downey, Jr. a small nation to be in it, but as a viewer, I love it.

Vincent: It’s pretty awesome and something that would have been unthinkable to me as a kid. That Iron Man would show up on screen at the same time as Captain American, much less appear in the other guys movie as a supporting character.

Chris: Where’d he put his helmet? Does it fly away when he doesn’t need it? That would be funny. Also? Tony sure is sporting a shiner. Ouch.

Vincent: Maybe Captain America punched his helmet off.

Chris: Hard to tell in this screencap, but Cap’s shield is being carried away by a soldier. Falcon is standing by Steve and we next see someone walk by with his Falcon suit. We hear Tony Stark say: “If we can’t accept limitations, we’re no better than the bad guys.” Also, in a blink and you’ll miss it moment, you can see Sharon Carter and whoever Martin Freeman plays standing on the far right while the soldiers take in Cap and Falcon.

Vincent: That’s Obama, taking our shields and bird suits away.

Vincent: Here we have a sultry Winter Soldier. You can almost hear the the sizzle from his on screen heat. By the way, I’m hoping Marvel uses that quote on the Blu Ray box.

Anyway, We hear Cap answer Tony, saying: “That’s not the way I see it.”

Chris: Winter Soldier is grabbing a gun. But we never see him using a gun in any of the action shots in the trailer. It makes me wonder if it’s a flashback to his brainwashed assassin days.

Vincent: Or maybe he’s just started using guns as bludgeoning devices.

Chris: Cap puts a hand on Bucky’s shoulder. Friends!

Vincent: The sexual tension is so thick you could cut it with a magic hammer! (Another good one for you, Marvel).

Vincent: Tony says: “Sometimes I want to punch you in your perfect teeth.” Talk about a complisult.

Chris: Nice suit. No black eye yet. Does Steve punch him here? That’d be pretty extreme. I mean, they are kinda pals even if they don’t see eye to eye on everything.

Chris: I have zero idea when this takes place but Falcon drops off a building (could be Germany if that’s where the exploding building stuff takes place) and deploys his wings at the last minute. Man, I wouldn’t fall that long before deploying them, but that’s me.

Vincent: Dude is really good with those things, he probably doesn’t fear much after having them destroyed and not falling off a helicarrier or floating rock. I can’t remember what happens in what movie any more, but I do remember the dude is pretty damned fearless when it comes to flying.

Vincent: Cap got to da choppa, but it was too late.

Chris: Someone is shooting a heavy machine gun at Steve Rogers while he hides behind a crashed helicopter. I like how as strong and fast Cap is, he’s also vulnerable to anything anyone else is. It helps keep the stakes high without going too far over the top.

This is intercut with Steve and Sam Wilson in civilian garb at a bar and Sam says: “I just want to make sure we consider all our options. Because people who shoot at you usually wind up shooting at me, too.”

Chris: This is probably my favorite single shot in the trailer. Falcon flies behind two guys and does a sweet spin kick to take out two guys at once. I guess Cap’s taught him some moves.

Vincent: Falcon is simply incredible. Usually, I don’t like super dudes with one power like flight, but it’s so well done with him.

Vincent: Widow says: “You know what’s about to happen. Do you really want to punch your way out of this?” My answer would be, “No, I’d rather hump my way out of this.” But, I’m a pervert.

Chris: After I finally stopped looking at ScarJo’s cleavage, I realized she was not on Cap’s side here and they’re at an airport. But which airport? Other shots have German writing so I guess Germany.

Chris: I like how Tony always has a shiny new set of armor as Iron Man but War Machine’s is all scratched up. Like, Tony won’t give him an upgrade? Stingy jerk.

Vincent: Real life reason: To better tell them apart? In Universe Answer: Because he sees more action than Tony, at least against regular army dudes and such?

Vincent: Nice of Hawkeye to show up.

Chris: Yeah, so here’s most of Cap’s team for the movie. No surprise to see Winter Soldier but I wouldn’t have expected Scarlet Witch and Hawkeye to necessarily be on his side. What’s Witch’s motivation, I wonder? Hawkeye I guess does make sense because if this is about registration, he wouldn’t want his family to be public knowledge.

Vincent: Probably. One thing I worried about with this film was a lack of heroes… at least compared to the comic books. Especially with no Thor or Hulk. The way that the trailer is cut though it doesn’t seem like it’s all that bad. Just a little light.

Chris: I guess it also makes sense for Rhodey to be on Tony’s side. Plus, I’d assume Tony could remotely turn off the War Machine armor if he felt like it.

Vincent: Yeah, Tony has Rhodey by the balls basically. He’s just riding around in his friend’s whip. I have no idea what I just said.

Vincent: Falcon says: “What do we do?” and Cap answers: “We fight.” And then they risk the lives of thousands of civilians.

Chris: Jesus, I’d hate to be flying out of this airport. You ain’t getting out until tomorrow. Also, I think that might be Hawkeye in the middle. And he’s probably dodging missiles from War Machine.

Chris: OH HAI BLACK PANTHER.

Vincent: I’m not big into Black Panther, but this costume is the tits.

Vincent: Again, with only five heroes (at least here), I was worried, but this doesn’t look as bad as I thought it would.

Chris: With as many heroes as they’re showing us, I’m still grateful for the restraint in the trailer. If you show us the humor of Ant-Man or the pure spectacle of Spider-Man, that would be distracting from Cap’s story in this one, basically taking a stand to stick up for his friend.

Chris: You’d think the king of Wakanda would have a more dignified move than shoving his butt in Winter Soldier’s face. But you’d be wrong.

Vincent: He has super powered farts. It’s a new gimmick introduced for the toys.

Chris: This seems to be taking place in a foreign bazaar. But the important detail is that Black Widow can still perform a hurricanrana (pro wrestling move).

Vincent: I have nothing to say here other than some sexist joke that would land me in SJW jail, so I won’t say anything.

Vincent: Cap will catch up when they reach some stairs and he can use his shield as one totally radical surfboard.

Chris: What could Steve be doing here? Is he saving this helicopter so someone can jump out? Or is he holding it down to prevent someone from escaping? I can’t tell but he sure is strong. Or he spends the rest of the movie with hyperextended elbows.

Vincent: Looks like the crashed one before. So whatever he is trying to do might have not worked. Unless he picked up a hobby of crashing helicopters. Then it worked in spades.

Chris: Here’s a quick badass shot of Winter Soldier trying to rip Iron Man’s arc reactor out of his chest. Kinda brutal. Especially when you consider it usually stands in as a pretty obvious metaphor for Tony’s heart. So Cap’s old friend is ripping out his new friend’s heart. I can do metaphors!

Vincent: Congrats. A degree from a small liberal arts college will arrive in the mail in two to three weeks.

Chris: They left that airport a mess. War Machine’s seen better days.

Vincent: I’m really hoping he’s not the token good guy death for this movie. A. I love War Machine. B. It would be terrible if they killed “the black guy” off.

Chris: This moment is actually what made me love this trailer. Beyond the action and spectacle, the core of the story is these characters. Cap says: “I’m sorry, Tony. You know I wouldn’t do this if I had other choice. But he’s my friend.” And a pretty devastated Tony lets out: “So was I.”

Vincent: It’s kind of a bitchy thing to say. Oh get over it, you big man baby. He made a new friend who is better than you.

Vincent: Not the kind of three-way that Tony Stark is used to.

Chris: What a brutal finish to the trailer. Captain America and Winter Soldier pound Iron Man down. He should be stronger but in close quarters, the two soldiers take turns knocking Iron Man’s repulsor rays away and smashing him in the head with the shield which they trade back and forth. It’s kinda sad to see these heroes at odds! Do I believe these characters will die? Probably not (though it’s possible if it follows the comics).

Vincent: Are you asking me? I don’t know. As they get older and less likely to make more films, the higher the chances are that someone big is going to get killed off!